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Speeding up my cycle

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So I have a buddy who has an established aquarium and he is giving me some of his bacteria.
He's giving me a rock and he said he can gimme a jug of water. I read somewhere though that the water doesn't actually contain bacteria is this true?
Also what is the best way to transfer this since I have to go from a house to a house. It's only about 15 mins away, is this enough to kill bacteria?

Do you mean he is giving you some of his filter media ??? Pretty close to all of the bacteria you want will be in the filter media and not in tank water

I would take the filter media home in some of his tank water to keep it safe and alive during the rid home and put it in your filter right away. Just make sure you tank is ready for it ahead of time

If you are referring to the rock, it won't have a lot of bacteria as compaired to filter media, but it should still help a little

Are you planning to cycle with or without fish ?

If you take your time to do the research FIRST, you can successfully set-up and keep ANY type of aquarium with ease."Not using a quarantine tank is like playing Russian roulette. Nobody wins the game, some people just get to play longer than others." - Anthony CalfoFishless CycleCycling with FishMarine Aquarium Info [URL="http://saltwater.aquaticcommunity.com/"]

Right now I have 3 tetras in the tank and its been running for about 2 weeks now. What do I keep it in to preserve it? And how do I take filter media, just take his filter out, open it and scoop it? When I put it in my tank do I just dump it in the water or do I actually put it in my filter?

Take the filter media from your friend, take it home in a container of tank water, then put it in your filter.

If you are getting the rock, take it home in a container of tank water then put it in your tank

If you take your time to do the research FIRST, you can successfully set-up and keep ANY type of aquarium with ease."Not using a quarantine tank is like playing Russian roulette. Nobody wins the game, some people just get to play longer than others." - Anthony CalfoFishless CycleCycling with FishMarine Aquarium Info [URL="http://saltwater.aquaticcommunity.com/"]

I've heard a number of people say that squeezing out an established sponge into a new tank is enough to get it cycled, so if that works then squeezing out a sponge into a container of water and putting that water in your tank should work. Not something I have ever tried myself though - I prefer to transfer the media.

Yup. If you could get the blue filter material from his filter cartridge, then stuff that into your filter, it should help your tank to cycle faster. Unless the rock you are talking about putting into your tank from his tank is porous, like volcanic rock, I would not bother with that either.